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    Darkness on the Nile
    Darkness on the Nile
    Darkness on the Nile
    Ebook104 pages1 hour

    Darkness on the Nile

    By H. M. Gooden

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    About this ebook

    When Naunet surfaces in the Nile for the first time in centuries, her disappointment at the condition of the water is quickly overshadowed by fear.

    Along with the pollution surrounding her is a taint of the darkest magic of all.

    One she'd thought defeated centuries ago.

    With the help of a handsome tourist with secrets of his own, she must race to stop a necromancer from reaching his goal. 

    Will being a fish out of water sink her future and destroy the earth?

    Or will she rise to a challenge she's never faced before?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherH. M. Gooden
    Release dateMay 29, 2019
    ISBN9781989156131
    Darkness on the Nile
    Author

    H. M. Gooden

    H. M. Gooden has always loved the world of books, but over the last few years a new story has begged to be told, and as a result, this series was born. In between dealing with children and work, the majority of the actual writing happens between four and six am and involves multiple cups of coffee for inspiration. You can always find me on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Bookbub and Goodreads. I always love to hear from readers!

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      Book preview

      Darkness on the Nile - H. M. Gooden

      Prologue

      Breathing hard, Naunet surveyed the damage. The once peaceful island in the middle of the Nile was strewn with debris from the activities of the night. Although shaky, she was otherwise unharmed, which is more than she could say about her enemies. Suddenly remembering her friends, she whirled, flipping her tail in the water to spin easily in a full 360 degrees as she searched for them.

      She breathed out in relief when she spotted Robin on land, looking as mischievous as always, if slightly filthy. Olukun was...where was she? Even as her panic began to mount, her beautiful friend surfaced with a splash, her shiny black hair and tail glinting in the moonlight with a face as serene as ever.

      They’d done it. They’d defeated them and had all come away from the battle unscathed. A tingle of happiness grew in her chest as Olukun approached, but it dampened instantly when her friend spoke.

      They are gone, for now. She intoned the words with a grim and an almost hollow echo that told Naunet more surely than anything else could have that her friend had seen the truth of the future.

      What do you mean, for now? Naunet was pretty certain she knew what Olukun meant, but she wasn’t ready to accept it yet.

      Olukun turned, her profile a sharp contrast to the ruins of the outpost, which had served as a lookout until Kek and Kauket had attempted their overthrow. She stared at it for several long moments while Naunet’s apprehension mounted; then without turning to face her, Olukun answered, her voice once again calm.

      Darkness and light will always have a balance. If the bringer of the night and the bringer of the light were truly vanquished, the world would end. But with their greedy actions, they have overstepped their roles and tried to take on powers not meant for them to wield. By using humans as servants for such perversion, they have changed the magic, tarnishing it in a way that was never meant to be.

      Naunet shuddered, recalling the awful things she’d seen in the weeks leading up to this fight. The bodies of humans controlled by the dead; Kauket’s depraved glee in all things dark and evil. She couldn't say she regretted her own actions, even if she’d had to use her magic more offensively than ever before. She knew they’d stopped an immeasurable, world-altering evil tonight. She searched her friend’s face, praying to the all-creator she had an answer.

      If it isn't over, what are we supposed to do? I can see no trace of either of them.

      It was true. With the combined forces of Robin on land, controlling earth magic for their side, Olukun bringing her power of light and premonition, and Naunet being the equal of either of her brothers and sisters in origin and might, they’d been more than a match for the King and Queen of Darkness.

      From the instant Olukun had lit up the night as bright as the day, there had been no sight of either of the gods.

      Olukun shook her head, turning to Naunet with a reassuring smile. Do not worry. When I say they aren’t gone, I don't mean we’ll need to face them again now or anytime soon.  Balance is important though, and I believe you will again confront this magic once it has had sufficient time to regroup. Do not let your guard down—it will return when you least expect it.

      Chapter 1

      Naunet took her time swimming up the mouth of the Nile, a strange uneasiness holding her back from her normal carefree attitude. A faint disturbance in the water earlier that day had caused her to swim closer to shore than she had in a while.

      Perhaps humans had succeeded in destroying the ecosystem after all, she thought sadly, watching as a can of flotsam passed by.

      She’d been staying in the depths of the ocean for years now, hardly roaming away from the abyssal zone where she’d lived for centuries. As magic faded from the world and humans continued their seemingly inexorable advances into every space they could find, it had become harder for her to sit back and watch the destruction.

      Once, the ocean had been pure and the land majestic as far as she could see. Now, plastic bottles competed with her for a space in the muddy waters of the Nile, and she couldn’t even bear to think about what was happening above the surface.

      The water became warmer the closer she swam to land and Naunet passed bright fish, including a few predators, without concern. She was ruler in this element with nothing to fear from any of her marine subjects. As the goddess of the deep oceans, she held sway over all the creatures dwelling within them and controlled water in a way others could not. But for the first time she could remember as she followed the water into the mouth of the Nile, a faint trickle of magic from nearby caused her heart to race.

      A magic which she hadn't felt in a long time and had hoped never to feel again.

      Maybe I’m wrong. But what if I’m not?

      Even though she didn’t want to be right, Naunet allowed the tingle to guide her forward. It became stronger as the river branched. Surfacing a few inches at a time, she paused to watch the sun dip into the west then glanced around for the source of the magic.

      The usually busy shipping lanes were oddly silent tonight, and nothing stood out. Her trepidation increasing, she pressed her lips together and slipped beneath the smooth silk of the Nile. As she followed the disturbance further inland despite all her reservations, she trailed the stream of power as if she was the water version of a bloodhound. By the time she reached the location from where she felt it emanating from, the sky was dark and the stars were high.

      If anyone had chanced to look toward the flat-bottomed Nile barge she was examining, they’d have seen what appeared to be a local girl out for a swim beside a pleasure cruiser. Unless they were perceptive enough to realize her hair and skin weren’t the right shade to be human.

      Without a sound, she slid up to the boat, avoiding the lights on the back. Stopping just out of range of their glow, she moved near enough to watch as a small group of people in the open center of the boat mingled. Unobserved by the partygoers, she was able to see eight people, two of whom she swiftly ruled out when she noticed they wore matching clothing. Uniforms.

      The remaining six she examined more carefully but saw nothing of concern. Then, something shifted. The tingle of magic came again, this time more insistently and with more force as a tall man with dark hair and a neatly trimmed black beard entered her line of sight.

      He wasn’t one of the people she’d seen on the boat at first glance. He appeared to have just exited a small room at the back of the boat and joined the group of revelers. Outwardly, he looked like an average human in his twenties, perhaps as old as thirty. Guessing the age of

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